It's Utes With A View As A Town Downs Tools
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday July 25, 2000
Everyone had the morning off yesterday in the small town of Murtoa as the Olympic flame was carried through Victoria's wheat belt to the Murray River.
Workers from the town's few businesses stood on the side of the main street and waved homemade torches, while other locals perched themselves in the back of utes to get a better view.
School was off the agenda for the morning for Murtoa's children, who waved and cheered at every car - even the police - that went past before the arrival of the torch. Nearly every student had a small Australian flag, a banner or green-and-gold balloons in their hands.
The fever in the town of about 1,000 people was so great that about 10 minutes before the torch relay circus hit town the regulars at the grand Marma Valley Hotel gave up their bar positions and spilled out onto the street.
The hotel's manager, Sue Russell, was pleased as she glanced down at the crowd along the main street. ``I was a bit worried we wouldn't look as excited as all the other towns you see on television, but those school kids look great," she said.
It was hard to discern whether the biggest cheer was for local legend ``Old Joe" Rabl, 80, as he made his way past his great- grandfather's old house, or for Murtoa's Olympic table tennis player Kerri Tepper.
The torch passed through several small towns just like Murtoa yesterday. Whether it was in Rupanyup, Marnoo, Charlton or Wycheproof, the locals turned out in force.
If these towns were among the most welcoming of the torch in Victoria so far, then soldier Dean Latham was surely among the most joyous of torchbearers. Mr Latham, a bombardier at Puckapunyal, was ecstatic as he ran down a Horsham street yesterday morning. ``I feel like a millionaire holding this torch. I can't find the words to describe it," he said.
Mr Latham was nominated to carry the torch in recognition of his fundraising activities for Australia's paralympians.
In 1993-94 he ran from Sydney to Brisbane in 10 days and 17 hours, raising $50,000 for the 1996 Atlanta paralympians.
The torch relay stopped last night in Swan Hill.
DAY 48 FOLLOW THE SPIRIT
Start: 7.56am Swan Hill
Route Swan Hill - Echuca
Km for day 171
52 days to Homebush Bay
Echuca
Population: 10,000
220 km north of Melbourne
Echuca sits on the junction of the Murray, Campaspe and Goulburn rivers, and is the Aboriginal word for "the meeting of the waters". Originally called Hopwood's Ferry after ex-convict and 1850s settler, Henry Hopwood, the town was the setting for Nancy Cato's novel, "All the Rivers Run". Flood waters threatened the town in October 1993 as the Murray reached its highest levels in over 100 years, more than 94.76m above sea level. Source: SOCOG and Discover Australia Road Guide.
Torch relay flash site: www.smh.com.au
© 2000 Sydney Morning Herald